Australian physicist Cathy Foley only fifth woman to win prestigious innovation award

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This was published 8 years ago

Australian physicist Cathy Foley only fifth woman to win prestigious innovation award

By Nicky Phillips
Updated

At the time Cathy Foley and her colleagues were developing a device that would revolutionise how mining companies detect ore deposits, the physicist felt her career wasn't at its best.

With three young children at home, including a baby, Dr Foley found working in science "wasn't always easy".

Cathy Foley ... winner of the Clunies Ross award.

Cathy Foley ... winner of the Clunies Ross award.Credit: Hase Productions/ATSE

She remembers missing out on a promotion - a first in her career - as she didn't have an international profile because she couldn't attend overseas conferences.

"My career probably wasn't at its best at that time. But I was able to keep participating," said Dr Foley, the science director of the CSIRO's manufacturing arm.

Kate Gunn says women in science can be disadvantaged by other's unconscious biases.

Kate Gunn says women in science can be disadvantaged by other's unconscious biases.Credit: Rick Stevens

Dr Foley's perseverance paid off. On Thursday evening, she and colleague Keith Leslie were awarded the prestigious Clunies Ross award for innovation and commercialisation. Their invention, LANDTEM, has been responsible for detecting ore deposits valued at more than $10 billion dollars globally, including $4 billion in Australia.

That Dr Foley is only the fifth woman to win the award handed out by the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering since 1991 highlights the dearth of females in science' senior ranks. Since 1991, the award has gone to 137 men - including 16 named John.

Dr Foley said there was clear evidence that diverse teams were required to produce great innovation and Australia would miss out if it didn't better utilise its talented females.

"Doing things the same way is not going to lead us to the breakthroughs we need," she said.

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Previously Dr Foley has said young women needed to be encouraged to study science, especially physics, IT and engineering.

Another female leader in science Kate Gunn says as in many professions, women in science were often disadvantaged by unconscious biases.

"Women get to child bearing age and then all of a sudden they don't get the promotions, they don't get the money," said Ms Gunn, the chief operating officer for the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO).

"It's obviously much more sophisticated than women just taking time out for kids because it happens to women who don't take time out to have kids," she said.

In academia women were often graded lower than men with the same skills and experience. "They don't get the opportunities to go to conferences when an essential part of a research career is to network and publicise your work," said Ms Gunn, who was this week awarded a Chief Executive Women scholarship to attend Harvard Business School's Women in Leadership Forum in June.

CAASTRO is one of a growing number of research institutes that have introduced programs to support women, who are often the primary carer, to stay in science. These include childcare friendly hours, childcare for employees attending conferences and gender targets for conferences.

"We found people are stretching themselves and that's fabulous," she said.

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